Breast cancer: Support the fight

* Breast cancer is the leading cancer among Jamaican women, and the leading cause of cancer-related death, with approximately 300 Jamaican women dying annually from the disease.

* Prohibitive cost for private treatment and challenges getting free public treatment are the main obstacles.

* Breast cancer treatment in Jamaica can cost anywhere between $4 million and $5 million, and this does not include miscellaneous expenses.

* There is no mammography machine in the public health sector; patients being treated at public hospitals are currently sent to the Jamaica Cancer Society for testing.

* Donors are needed to provide mammography machines for the public system. One machine costs a minimum of $16 million.